#82: Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

Oscar Winner:

*Best Picture - Unique and Artistic Production, Best Cinematography, Best Actress (Jay Gaynor)

* The only time this category was awarded to a film

Ah yes... The first silent film on this list. Guess what? It's not even a comedy! It would almost take bribery to get most people to sit down and watch a silent film, but just like any type of history, one needs to discover something's past to truly gain an appreciation for it. It's been since college that I've really taken the time to sit down and watch a silent film, and although I don't recommend doing it at 10 p.m. (silent film = sleepiness), I'm so glad I did it with Sunrise.

Directed by the famous German director, F.W. Murnau (most famous for the vampire flick Nosferatu), Sunrise mixes Hitchcockian thrills and romance to tell a tale of rekindled love. Blended with the German expressionism style that Murnau made so famous (how about that film history knowledge being dropped on you!) and enhanced passion that audiences so love, Sunrise follows The Man (George O'Brien) and The Wife (Janet Gaynor) whose marriage is on the rocks. One night, The Man is tempted by The Woman From the City (Margaret Livingston) to kill his wife and leave his farm and children behind for a glorious big-city life with her. With obvious guilt-ridden feelings, The Man can't go through with the plan, but through this more-than-major set back, a stronger bond forms between the married couple.

This film is 83 years old and its amazing to see the apparent influence it has had on now current films. Two major components stood out to me. First off, I loved the cutting-edge editing and camera work of the film. Silent films always seem to be constrained in one setting, so it was refreshing to see an older movie get away from the genre’s static nature. Also, Murnau uses overlay effects to great dramatic effect that still seem innovative today. Even the very few title cards have an artistic breath to them. I couldn't help but think that Moulin Rouge was heavily influenced by this film by not just the editing, but the setting as well. Which brings me to the second component... The cinematography is beautiful. It's not a surprise that it won the Oscar for this category in the way that it captures its vast cityscapes that often had me admiring how they filmed their scenes.

Unfortunately, these technical achievements couldn't hold my attention very well when the second act of the film started. I absolutely loved the beginning and the end of this ironic fairy tale, but as the couples romance starts to bud once again, things start to slow down and it starts to feel like... well, a silent movie. Don't get me wrong, it's still a very engaging story, but the middle almost feels like a completely different film. But it's needed to have the very strong payoff at the end.

I would be remorse if I didn't mention the strong performances in the film. Silent film acting is a whole different type of performance and O'Brien and Gaynor bring so much conviction and realness to their roles. I would love to see how present actors would fair in a silent film like this. In a way, I think it would be an experiment that would really separate the really great actors from just the good ones.

If I hadn't started to get bored somewhat during the middle of this film, Sunrise would get a much higher rating for me. Despite that, I would definitely recommend it to just about anybody and if you forced to only watch one silent film to be an example for the genre, I wouldn't mind this one being it.

I give Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans 4 out of 5 drunken piglets.

#83: Titanic (1997)

Oscar Winner:

Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Effects, Best Visual Effects, Best Music (Original Dramatic Score), Best Music (Original Song), Best Sound

One of the great things about seeing films multiple times is that it can evoke an entirely different sentiment the second time around. People will always have films that they will revisit time after time, but I'm talking about a response that is the complete opposite of what you originally felt. How many times have you revisited a film from your youth and it wasn't quite as good as you remember? I had the exact opposite reaction to Titanic on second viewing. Like everybody else in 1997, I saw Titanic, but as a teenager, the romantic air of the film made me want to gag. Although I thought it was a good film, I didn't quite understand why it broke so many Oscar records. I wasn't necessarily looking forward to seeing it again, but much to my surprise, I couldn't believe how much I was swept into…. yes, I'm going to say it… a movie masterpiece.

Yes, even a young child probably knows that the Titanic was the ship that was said to be unsinkable, but the director James Cameron uses a forbidden romance between two social classes to guide us through the disaster. Torn between being her own person and high expectations of a fortune-bound marriage, spoiled Rose (Kate Winslet) reluctantly comes across an artsy, yet poor star-crossed lover in Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio). Jack slowly, but surely, starts to crumble the walls of society that Rose is so bound in, but just as the two decide to take the giant leap into forbidden devotion, an iceberg comes along and ruins their party.

Even though every movie pretty much has a three-act structure, people don't mind dividing this movie into two-halves; the romantic story and the disaster story. Although I think that the sinking of the ship is a far better part and as close to perfect filmmaking that there is, I was surprised by how much I got caught up in Jack and Rose's story. This film had to have a strong foundation for you to invest in a journey where you already know the outcome. Cameron does a brilliant job of flipping the tables and makes the unknown into what happens to this young couple. Although this romance can't help but reek of cheesiness (and is the reason for not quite making it a five-star movie), I emotionally bought into these characters as my teenager soul mocked me in the back of my mind. I'm sure Winslet and DiCaprio have to shudder a bit when they watch this film because their performances aren't necessarily the best ever, but you can for sure see the talent budding that has now made them the top tier of the acting world.

Now that I got that sappy stuff out of the way, I have to expound on how gripping the visuals of the Titanic going down were. Cameron uses special effects mixed with live action to perfection. You can definitely see the budget of this film on screen, but I was shocked at how well everything holds up here. It's been a long time since my eyes were literally glued to the screen and I was totally swept up by the impact of the impending doom. The editing of the disaster scenes are near perfect and I think what really draws you in is the secondary characters that bring a realness to the screen that is very much needed.

Titanic is a film that contains humor, romance, action, big-screen effects, drama, sadness, and most importantly, entertainment. I'm not quite sure why all those elements weren't so clear to me when I was sixteen, but thank goodness for this list to help me see the way.

I give Titanic, 4.5 out of 5 scandalous portraits.

#84: Easy Rider (1969)

It's fitting that watching this film coincided with the recent death of Dennis Hopper, the producer, director and star of Easy Rider. It was known as one of his best works, and deservingly so. Easy Rider is easily the most experimental film to appear on this list so far, which is an understatement for a film that is laced with drug use. It's not often that you can feel the filmmakers’ presence behind the cameras when watching a film. It's not distracting though because you feel their own intentions, as well as the story's. Their approach happened to not just change the way films were made, but effected a whole generation.

Set alongside the southern roads of America, Wyatt (Peter Fonda) and Billy (Hopper), hop on their motorcycles to head toward New Orleans after scoring some major cash after a cocaine deal. Invoking a Western-styled journey (influenced heavily by hippie ideals) Wyatt and Billy encounter both friends and foes as they embrace their ultimate destination of, well… life… man… Total freedom is the ultimate goal for these two nomads, but they learn that even their peace-loving ideals don't often bring the truest form of serenity.

This was actually the second time for me to see this film, and honestly, I wasn't as impacted this time around. Strangely enough, I almost feel like this film is best viewed just once. I love the editing (especially the transitional cuts) and the cinematography, but it's so easy to disregard the magic of what's happening on screen. It's widely known that most of the crew was just as strung out as the characters on screen, which in a way discounts the "genius" of this film. I just imagine that when this film was met with such critical praise, Hopper and Fonda had to feel like little boys who got away with stealing candy from the general store.

Nonetheless, you can't discount the impact this film made. Although at moments you may think to yourself, "What's the point?" you can't help but see what a new style of filmmaking this was. This film help usher in a whole new wave of counterculture filmmaking that made Scorsese, Coppola and Spielberg household names. It probably could be credited as one of the first, truly independent films that made the 70's, in my opinion, the best decade for both films and music.

This film is rated a little bit higher in my books more so for the impact then for the actual entertainment value, but to me it's a must see and highly deserves to be on this list. If anything, to feel the impact of the last shot.

I give Easy Rider 4 out of 5 Steppenwolfs. Read below my quick thoughts on the film from the first time I saw it in February of 2005.


I was a little hesitant on how I would view this movie. I knew not to expect too much (two hippies on motorcycles), so would this bore me? On the other hand, it is on numerous great movies lists. How can a buddy-road movie pull this off? While watching it, I enjoyed myself. It was entertaining, but I really didn't see the big deal about it. But, then the ending happened, and it all came together. As stated in the movie Adaptation, "Get them at the end. It doesn't matter what happens the rest of the movie, but if you got a great ending, then you have yourself a great movie." Once the credits rolled with the great theme-titled song, I actually felt what that time might have felt to a lot of hippies. Or maybe it was that joint I had been smoking the whole time.

Pro: The soundtrack! Oh yeah, and a great performance by Jack Nicholson.

Con: If you didn't live during the 60s/70s and have never done drugs (which I account for on both counts) the whole meaning of the movie might loose you.